John P. Weigand, AuD, who specializes in caring for hearing-impaired children and adults, will be honored by Fort Greene Council at its 2nd Annual Awards Dinner on
May 19.

The event recognizes the contributions of community partners who provide outstanding services and support to New York City’s young and old. Dr. Weigand, the director of audiology services at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, is being recognized for his outreach to the older adults. He and his staff regularly visit the Council’s senior centers, providing talks on hearing health and hearing loss. They also provide free hearing screening; more than 150 seniors have been tested as part of this service.

Since joining SUNY Downstate’s Department of Otolaryngology as assistant professor in 2000, Dr. Weigand has been active in extending hearing healthcare to the wider Brooklyn community. In addition to testing and fitting adults with the most technologically advanced, high-definition, digital hearing instruments available today, he evaluates newborns and children who may benefit from cochlear implants to improve hearing. He was instrumental in developing the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program for all babies born at Downstate’s University Hospital of Brooklyn before they go home with their parents.
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SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, Colleges of Nursing and Health Related Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and an Advanced Biotechnology Park and Biotechnology Incubator.

SUNY Downstate ranks ninth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.